Cody Hughes has been a performance coach for over ten years across the college, high school, and private sector levels, while also operating as an entrepreneur on the side. He joins the show from Nashville, where he’s now consulting with Lipscomb Academy, partnering with Jeremy Holt at Athlete Performance, working with Vitruve, and teaching coaches how to build their own software with AI.

We dive into the project he moved his family across the country for and the moment it fell apart, the conversation with his dad that reframed everything, and why he believes staying comfortable is the bigger risk.

Cody walks step by step through how he’s built his skill set over the last ten years, from his first training card in a Google Sheet to Strength Sheets, the product that supported his family. He explains why AI only works for him because of the decade of building that came before it, the tools he thinks every coach and gym owner should build right now, how to connect your CRM so parent progress reports send themselves, and how he built an AI executive assistant named Fox to run his week.

Cody is really honest about how he still struggles to constrain his creativity, the boundaries he and his wife have had to build around it, and what he’s still trying to figure out.

🔗Check out more from Cody 👇

Instagram: @clh_strength

Website: clhstrength.com

Build With AI: Fundamentals: click here

This podcast evolved from my book, Strength In Numbers — the ultimate mentorship guide for coaches.

Featuring insights from 100+ ELITE coaches across every level and sport, it’s an encyclopedia of coaching wisdom built to help you grow your career, navigate failure, and find long-term coaching success.

👉 Grab your copy of Strength In Numbers [by clicking here].

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:24 Cody’s Current Roles

06:41 Building a Tolerance for Uncertainty

09:41 Getting Fired and the Conversation With His Dad

11:51 Why Staying Comfortable Is the Bigger Risk

14:33 The Gifts That Came From Being Fired

18:47 Mentorship With Brian Kula

24:27 Plans Are Useless, But Planning Is Everything

27:23 Designing the Life You Want to Live

31:25 Building Skill Sets Over Ten Years

32:50 The Origin of Strength Sheets

37:50 Why AI Only Works Because of What Came Before It

41:59 Inside Build With AI Fundamentals

51:12 Tools Every Coach and Gym Owner Should Build

53:37 Connecting Your CRM and Automating Parent Reports

57:25 Fox: Building an AI Executive Assistant

01:02:42 The Strength That Costs Him at Home

01:06:43 Boundaries and Seasons of Life

EP 76: Cody Hughes | Build The Tools Instead Of Buying Them

The Strength In Numbers Podcast

EP 76: Cody Hughes | Build The Tools Instead Of Buying Them